In my dynasty league I'm trying to acquire more rookie draft picks, so I'm shopping wide receivers, an area where I have pretty good depth. It's a little shocking how little interest there is in Oakland's Michael Crabtree.
In fairness, I'm the one looking to deal him, so right there it's clear that I myself have some reservations about him. But I'm not sure why. He's 29 -- a year older than Dez Bryant. He's gone over 1,000 receiving yards, or close to it, with 85-89 catches and 8-9 TDs in each of his two seasons in Oakland. He was a top-10 wideout in our PPR scoring system last year, 17th the previous season. But nobody wants to give up anything noteworthy for him.
One owner told me he expects Amari Cooper to break out into more of a go-to guy in 2017, with Crabtree more of a supporting player. And that seems to be one prevailing opinion out there. But they're different kinds of players, with Cooper having a little more downfield potential and Crabtree running shorter routes -- and more effective around the goal line. Crabtree has caught 17 TDs the last two seasons, Cooper 11. Maybe Cooper is more talented. But why should those numbers change in 2017?
Perhaps more importantly, Oakland's passing game really runs through that duo. Seth Roberts shows up to catch a few touchdowns, but otherwise isn't a big part of the passing game. The tight ends aren't hugely involved, which signing Jared Cook won't necessarily change.
The table below shows combined numbers from wide receiver duos last season. No pair caught more passes than Cooper-Crabtree. Only two had more yards, and only 5 had more touchdowns.
I suspect Crabtree will be drafted a bunch of rounds later than Cooper this season, as usual. And that he'll be on a lot of my fantasy teams.
WIDE RECEIVER DUOS, 2016 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | No. 1 | No. 2 | No | Yds | TD |
Oak. | Amari Cooper | Michael Crabtree | 172 | 2156 | 13 |
G.B. | Jordy Nelson | Davante Adams | 172 | 2254 | 26 |
N.O. | Brandin Cooks | Michael Thomas | 170 | 2310 | 17 |
Den. | Demaryius Thomas | Emmanuel Sanders | 169 | 2115 | 10 |
NYG | Odell Beckham Jr. | Sterling Shepard | 166 | 2050 | 18 |
Pitt. | Antonio Brown | Eli Rogers | 154 | 1878 | 15 |
Minn. | Adam Thielen | Stefon Diggs | 153 | 1870 | 8 |
T.B. | Mike Evans | Adam Humphries | 151 | 1943 | 14 |
Mia. | Jarvis Landry | DeVante Parker | 150 | 1880 | 8 |
Det. | Golden Tate | Marvin Jones | 146 | 2007 | 8 |
Balt. | Mike Wallace | Steve Smith | 142 | 1816 | 9 |
Atl. | Julio Jones | Mohamed Sanu | 142 | 2062 | 10 |
Ariz. | Larry Fitzgerald | J.J. Nelson | 141 | 1591 | 12 |
Jac. | Allen Robinson | Marqise Lee | 136 | 1734 | 9 |
N.E. | Julian Edelman | Chris Hogan | 136 | 1786 | 7 |
Sea. | Doug Baldwin | Tyler Lockett | 135 | 1725 | 8 |
Wash. | Pierre Garcon | DeSean Jackson | 135 | 2046 | 7 |
Cin. | A.J. Green | Brandon LaFell | 130 | 1826 | 10 |
S.D. | Tyrell Williams | Dontrelle Inman | 127 | 1869 | 11 |
Hou. | DeAndre Hopkins | Will Fuller | 125 | 1589 | 6 |
Dall. | Cole Beasley | Dez Bryant | 125 | 1629 | 13 |
Ind. | T.Y. Hilton | Phillip Dorsett | 124 | 1976 | 8 |
Chi. | Cameron Meredith | Alshon Jeffery | 118 | 1709 | 6 |
NYJ | Quincy Enunwa | Brandon Marshall | 117 | 1645 | 7 |
Car. | Kelvin Benjamin | Ted Ginn | 117 | 1693 | 11 |
Clev. | Terrelle Pryor | Corey Coleman | 110 | 1420 | 7 |
Phil. | Jordan Matthews | Dorial Green-Beckham | 109 | 1196 | 5 |
L.A. | Kenny Britt | Brian Quick | 109 | 1566 | 8 |
Tenn. | Rishard Matthews | Tajae Sharpe | 106 | 1467 | 11 |
K.C. | Tyreek Hill | Jeremy Maclin | 105 | 1129 | 8 |
S.F. | Jeremy Kerley | Quinton Patton | 101 | 1075 | 3 |
Buff. | Robert Woods | Marquise Goodwin | 80 | 1044 | 4 |